List of Air episodes
Encyclopedia
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series is based on the visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
Air by the Japanese software company Key
Key (company)
Key is a Japanese visual novel studio which formed on July 21, 1998 as a brand under the publisher Visual Art's and is located in Kita, Osaka, Japan. Key released their debut visual novel Kanon in June 1999, which combined an elaborate storyline, an up-to-date anime-style drawing style, and a...
. The episodes, produced by the animation studio Kyoto Animation
Kyoto Animation
, abbreviated , is a Japanese animation studio located in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 1981, became a limited company in 1985 and then became a corporation in 1999. Presided by Hideaki Hatta, the company is affiliated with noted studio Sunrise and is also parent to the studio...
, are directed by Tatsuya Ishihara
Tatsuya Ishihara
is a Japanese anime director from Maizuru, Kyoto working for the Japanese animation studio Kyoto Animation.-Series directed:*Air Series Director*Aka-chan to Boku*Clannad *Fushigi Yuugi...
, written by Fumihiko Shimo, and features character design by Tomoe Aratani who based the designs on Itaru Hinoue
Itaru Hinoue
is a female Japanese artist from Osaka, Japan, and is one of the founding members of the software company Key. Hinoue's choice of her pseudonym stems from the manga C by Shō Kitagawa; the protagonist in the manga was named...
's original concept. The story follows the main character Yukito Kunisaki, a traveler who arrives in a quiet seaside town during summer since he does not have anymore money to continue on his journey for now. He is on a search for the "girl in the sky" that his now-deceased mother told him about and was searching for too; Yukito has taken it upon himself to find this girl to finish his mother's journey. In town, Yukito meets three strange girls early on named Misuzu Kamio, Kano Kirishima, and Minagi Tohno, and Yukito begins to suspect that one of them may in fact be the girl he has been searching for.
Thirteen episodes were produced by Kyoto Animation: twelve regular episodes, and a final recap
Summary
A summary, synopsis, or recap is a shorter version of the original. Such a simplification highlights the major points from the much longer subject, such as a text, speech, film, or event...
episode which summarizes Misuzu's story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
. On November 17, 2004, a teaser DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
named "Air prelude" was produced containing interviews with the cast, clean opening and ending sequences, and promotional footage of the anime itself. It was a limited edition DVD, with only 20,000 copies produced. The episodes aired between January 6 and March 31, 2005 on the BS-i
BS-i
is a satellite broadcasting station headquartered in Asakaka Gochome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its channel name is BS-TBS . It is a member television station of Japan News Network.-Channels:*Television: BS-TBS is assigned BS161ch - 163ch....
Japanese television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
. After the conclusion of the anime series, a mini-series which added to the Summer arc of the story called Air in Summer aired on August 28 and September 4, 2005 a week later on BS-i. Air in Summer consisted of two episodes and was produced by the same staff as the anime series.
A DVD released on March 31, 2005 called "Air Memories" contained promotional commercials for the series, staff commentaries, and clean ending sequences from the twelfth and thirteenth episodes, lasting ninety-two minutes in total. The episodes were released to six Region 2 DVDs between April 6 and September 7, 2005 by Pony Canyon
Pony Canyon
is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...
in limited and regular editions containing two episodes per volume. A single DVD volume for Air in Summer was released on October 5, 2005 in Japan in limited and regular editions. Additionally, Air became one of the first anime series to be released in Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
format on December 22, 2006. A new version of the Blu-ray Disc box set was released on November 28, 2008 in Japan.
The twelve main episodes and two Air in Summer episodes were licensed for North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n distribution by ADV Films. The episodes were released on four DVD compilations between August 14, 2007 and November 27, 2007. The second DVD volume was sold in two editions, with the difference between the two being a series box all four DVDs could fit inside. In July 2008, the license for the anime series and film was transferred to Funimation Entertainment
Funimation Entertainment
Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...
continued to produce them in North America in English. Funimation released a three-disc series box set of the Air anime on April 21, 2009.
Two pieces of theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
are used for the episodes; one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is , and the ending theme is "Farewell song"; both songs are sung by Lia
Lia (singer)
Lia is a female Japanese singer-songwriter who is a former member of I've Sound. Lia has also participated in happy hardcore singing, producing four such albums with this style of singing; these albums have her name in all capital letters. She is notable as the singer for the opening and ending...
and were the original opening and ending themes from the visual novel. The rest of the soundtrack for the anime series is sampled from the visual novel's original soundtrack. This includes one insert song used near the end of episode twelve, , which is also sung by Lia, and was originally an insert song from the visual novel.
Air
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
Air in Summer
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|